The internal combustion engine has been a great innovation to provide rotary power for driving many different types of machines. Gasoline powered engines of this type were developed in the 1860's to power early machines. Even gasoline was not readily available at that time to make the internal combustion engine widely used. The internal combustion is today the mainstay for powering automobiles and other vehicles. Most engines employ an internal flywheel to smooth out the power delivery from the engine to the load. In other words, the typical engine flywheel stores kinetic energy during engine ignition cycles, and releases the energy to the load during other engine cycles.
What has not been developed commercially to date is a technique to power vehicles using flywheels not only to smooth out the delivery of power to the wheels, but also to power the car during intervals where the engine power may be insufficient, such as when accelerating a car equipped with a small horsepower engine from a stopped or idle condition to full speed. While flywheels have been used in vehicles for experimental purposes, the full extent of flywheels has not yet been exploited.
From the foregoing, a need exists for a flywheel system adapted for use with vehicles to provide an efficient and cost effective temporary supply of power. A further need exists for a flywheel system that not only supplies power to a vehicle to drive the wheels during periods of acceleration, but also to receive power from the vehicle during periods of deceleration and store such power for later use. Another need exists for the use of a flywheel to stabilize the vehicle during turning. A further need exists for the flywheel to be brought off line and spun up again to operating speed while the engine is delivering full power to maintain a desired acceleration.